Three people have been sentenced following a raid on a Bath nail bar suspected of modern slavery.

In a joint operation between Avon and Somerset Police and Staffordshire Police, officers unravelled the human trafficking operation which saw young Vietnamese teenagers forced to work without wages in nail bars across the country.

Thu Huong Nguyen - known as Jenny - 48, of Southdown Road, Bath, was found guilty of conspiring to arrange or facilitate the movement of people for labour exploitation and conspiring to require others to perform forced or compulsory labour following a trial.

She was sentenced to five years imprisonment at Stafford Crown Court today. Two other people from Burton-on-Trent were also sentenced, including 29-year-old Viet Hoang Nguyen (known as Ken) who was given a four-year jail sentence.

The judge called the defendants "devious and manipulative" and said they treated the victims as commodities and exploited them for "pure economic greed".

The trafficking investigation involved five police forces and the National Crime Agency and began after our officers took part in a multi-agency welfare visit to Nail Deluxe in Westgate Street, Bath, in February 2016 – a premises run by Jenny Nguyen.

Officers found £60,000 in cash being found concealed inside a stuffed toy in a raid on Jenny’s home.

DI Charlotte Tucker, who led the operation for Avon and Somerset Police and was one of the officers to attend the Bath nail bar, said: "Today marks the conclusion of a desperately sad case in which young vulnerable girls were forced to work in nail bars across the country as part of a sophisticated money-making operation.

"Two teenage victims were safeguarded following the warrant carried out on Nail Deluxe in Bath and a further two were located at a nail bar in Burton-on-Trent.

“These victims have had traumatic childhoods and were treated by traffickers as commodities - forced to live and work in unsuitable conditions, with little or no pay, and enduring both physical and verbal abuse.

"We’re pleased with the custodial sentences given out today and hope this case acts as a stark reminder of how modern slavery victims are working and living in plain sight.

"As a community we need to look out for the warning signs and do our part to stop this archaic practice once and for all.”